Weekly Reading Insights: Vayigash  

Overview of the Weekly Reading

Torah: Gen. 44:18-47:27; 
Haftorah: Ezekiel 37:15-28 (a prophecy of the ultimate resolution of the division between "Yehuda" and "Yosef")

 

FROM THE CHASSIDIC REBBES MOSHIACH THIS WEEK

As a result of the sale of Yosef to Egypt, the exile that was originally supposed to last for four hundred years was shortened to two hundred and ten, with the period of actual slavery being only the last eighty-six years. Yosef was at a higher level of righteousness than his brothers, and therefore he had to go down to Egypt before them. The elevation of lost holy sparks that he already accomplished before the rest of the Children of Israel joined him served to lighten the decree of exile on everyone.
(Ohr HaTorah - translated from Sichat HaShavuah #105)

"Don't be depressed." (44:5)
Joy [simcha] is not a mitzvah, yet it has the power to bring about the fulfillment of all the mitzvot. Depression is not a sin, yet it can lead a person to all the sins there are.
(Rebbe Aharon "the Great" of Karlin -translated from Sichat HaShavuah #469)

"If you don't bring your little brother with you, you'll not see my face again." (44:23)
This is a command for all Jews: if we don't take with us our 'little brothers' - the Jewish children - in order to teach them Torah and Mitzvot, 'you'll not see My face again' - G-d won't desire you.
(Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov -translated from Sichat HaShavuah #314)

"How shall I go up to my father, and the lad is not with me." (44:34)
Every Jew must ask himself: How can I go up to my Father in heaven "and the lad is not with me" -- without bringing the days of my youth? A person must be especially vigilant that he not squander away his younger years.
(Ma'ayana Shel Torah)

Every Jew must ask himself this same question: After 120 years, how will I be able to face my Father in heaven "and the lad is not with me" - if I have wasted my younger years on trivial and frivolous pursuits? This is also a question to be asked by every Jewish parent: How will I answer to G-d "and the lad is not with me" - if I have not met the Jewish educational needs of my children, and allowed them to become estranged due to ignorance?
(Der Torah Kval)

"Do not be sad, nor be angry with yourselves that you sold me." (45:5)
Sadness and anger are connected and feed off each other. Joseph told his brothers not to be sad; once they were in a better frame of mind, their anger would naturally dissipate.
(Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar)

"But now, do not be sad." (45:5)
A person must do whatever is necessary to avoid sadness and depression. This is the meaning of the verse, "My sin I will declare; I am worried about my transgression"--"worrying" about one's sins is harmful, and sinful in itself. Rabbi Mordechai Malkowitz used to say: The only worry a person is permitted to dwell upon is the worry that he is worried!
Chassidic sources)

"For in order to preserve life has G-d sent me before you...to prepare for you a posterity on the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (45:5,7)
The darkness of the exile makes it hard to perceive
G-dliness, or to arouse the natural, innate love for G-d that is the birthright of every Jew. But G-d has mercy on His people Israel, and in every generation sends us one tzadik (righteous person) like Joseph, whose function is to diffuse light to each individual soul and enable it to contemplate G-d's greatness.
(Torat Chaim)

"Hurry back to my father and say to him...'G-d has made me lord (samani) over all of Egypt'" (45:9)
The intention was not that Jacob would be pleased to learn that Joseph now occupied a high political position. Rather, samani can also be translated "I put" - that through me, Joseph, G-d's name has been publicized and made great throughout the land of Egypt. Indeed, such a message would surely bring immense joy to Jacob.
(Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin)

"And you shall tell my father of all my honor in Egypt." (45:13)
"Tell my father not to worry," Joseph requested of his brothers. "All the honor and respect heaped upon me by the Egyptians has not had a negative effect. It has not made me lose the humility necessary to worship G-d properly."
(Gedolei HaChasidut - From L'Chaim #902)

"And Benjamin cried on his neck" (45:14)
Rashi explains: "For the sanctuary Shiloh in the territory of Joseph which was destined to be destroyed". Why did Benjamin cry for the destruction of Mishkan Shiloh in Joseph's territory and not about the destruction of both Temples that were to be destroyed in his territory? From this we learn that the sorrow of our fellowman should concern us more than our own.
(Rabbi Yehezkiel of Kozmir -translated from Sichat HaShavuah 259)

"He sent off his brothers and they went. He said to them, 'Do not become irritated on the way.'" (45:24)
Torah delineates the different paths that one may follow in G-dly service, each one being true and holy and good. Joseph teaches here that we should not become irritated with a person who has chosen a different path than we, because each and every one are the "words of the living G-d."
(Divrei Yisrael - From L'Chaim #801)

"I will also surely bring you up again" (literally, "I will bring you up and also up"). (46:4)
The Torah's repetition of the word "up" is an allusion to the two spiritual ascensions of the Jewish people. The first occurred with the Exodus from Egypt; the second will take place with Moshiach and the Final Redemption.
(Sefer HaMaamarim 5709)

"For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." (46:34)
Joseph behaved in a manner that is the exact opposite of how some people behave. He knew that, because the Egyptians worshiped sheep, shepherding was considered an abominable occupation. Yet, he immediately told Pharaoh that his brothers were shepherds. In this way, it would be obvious that they would not be trying to find favor in the eyes of the non-Jews and they could live in peace as Jews in their own land.
(Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur)

"The days of the years of my wanderings are one hundred and thirty years; the days of the years of my life were few and bad." (47:9)
How could Jacob have said this when the average life span after the generation of the flood was 120 years? All his life Jacob yearned for the everlasting peace and tranquility of the Messianic era. For as long, then, as the Redemption did not come, Jacob regarded the years of his life as qualitatively few and meager, because they did not contain that which is most important of all. (Lubavitcher Rebbe)

"Yosef provided the needs of his father, his brothers, and all his father's family." (47:12)
Our Sages comment that the entire Jewish people is often referred to as "Joseph" in the merit of his having provided sustenance for them during the years of famine. "Providing sustenance," however, also has a spiritual connotation, and refers to Joseph's willingness to help his brothers even after he was wronged by them. This quality of doing good rather than taking revenge is the inheritance of all Jews, and is derived from our Patriarch Jacob.
(Likutei Sichot)

"And Yosef gathered in all of the money to be found in the lands of Egypt and Canaan." (47:14)
The collecting of the money by Yosef offers a hint at the purpose of the Children of
Israel's descent to Egypt: they had to go there to collect and elevate all the remnant
sparks of holiness that had fallen to there.
(Maggid of Mezritch)

"Here is seed for you; and you shall sow the land." (47:23)
The righteous Joseph, the spiritual leader of every generation, gives each of us the encouragement and strength we need to worship G-d. But we must not rely solely on that which we receive from the tzadik; we must also sow the seeds we are given.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe -From L'Chaim #902)

 

 







 

 


"Yehudah approached Yosef…." (Gen. 44:18)
At first, Yehudah didn't really know who he was speaking to, and thought that Yosef was a non-Jewish king. At the end, he found out the truth: that the entire time he was speaking to a Jewish king, his own brother, Yosef. The same is with us now in our Exile. We may think that the non-Jewish leaders are in control. But in the times of Mashiach the truth will be revealed, and we will realize that G-d is, and always was, the only real King of the world.
(Sefer Haparshios - Adapted from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell and the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org)

"He began to weep.." (Gen. 45:2)
Yosef's brothers felt very ashamed for what they had done to him. But they felt better when they saw him crying and showing how much he really loved them. They cried together tears of joy for being able to finally come back together.
Similarly, when G-d will redeem the Jewish people, there will also be tears, as it says, "I will bring them from the land in the north, and gather them from the corners of the earth ... With crying they will come." (Jer. 31:8). But why should they be crying if the Redemption has come? Because those tears will be like those of Yosef -- tears of joy.
(Beraishis Rabah 93:12, Eitz Yosef)

"Yehudah approached Yosef…." ( 45:18)
The word used for "approached" is vayigash, which implies that they came very close together. Many years later, the descendants of Yehudah and Yosef split. In fact, there were two separate kingdoms of the Jewish people in the Holy Land: one king from Yehudah and one from Yosef.
But when the Redemption comes, they will not only come very close, but unite together into one kingdom. This is spoken of in the Haftorah, where Yechezkel is told to take one stick for Yehudah and another stick for Yosef and to combine them into one stick. At that time, all the Jews will have one king, Melech HaMashiach.
(Reprinted with permission from L'Chaim Magazine (www.lchaim.org).)

"I will go down to Egypt with you and I will bring you up, also bring up." (46:4)
When Jacob was about to go down to Egypt, G-d promised to eventually redeem him. The repetitiveness of "I will bring you up" intimates that G-d promised Jacob that the Children of Israel would be redeemed twice. The first time was when G-d brought us out of the exile from Egypt. The second time will be with the final redemption through Mashiach, as it says (Isaiah 11:11), "On that day G-d will add on a second time to recover the rest of His nation."
(The Midrash - L'Chaim #849)

"He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen." (46:28)
Our Sages explain that Judah was dispatched to Egypt before everyone else "in order to establish a house of learning...that the tribes be able to study Torah-Hogim baTorah." Jacob understood that their sojourn in as corrupt a place as Egypt would pose a threat to the spirituality of the Jewish people, and thus prepared the antidote before their arrival. The word "hogim" implies a study so deep and comprehensive that the Torah actually becomes part of the person. Moshiach is therefore described as "hogeh baTorah," for the power to redeem the Jewish people from exile can only come from one whose entire existence is absolutely unified with the Torah itself.
(Hitvaaduyot 5750 - Reprinted with permission from L'Chaim Magazine (www.lchaim.org).)

When Yosef sent his brothers to bring his father Yaakov to Egypt, he sent to his father 10 male donkeys and 10 female donkeys loaded with all the best and finest things in all of Egypt. In reward for honoring his father in this way, G-d will redeem his descendants, the Children of Israel, through Mashiach. Because of his great humility, Mashiach is described as, "A poor person riding on a male donkey, on the offspring of a female donkey." (Zechariah 9:9).

[Sources: Midrash Lekach Tov quoted in Torah Shleimah 45:81. Adapted from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion, as published on mashiach.org]

Back to Top


Redesign and implementation - By WEB-ACTION